Officials: Power line would hurt community

Friday

An updated power line proposal filed Thursday still is unacceptable because it would damage the community and cause local energy prices to rise, area officials and residents said.

An updated power line proposal filed Thursday still is unacceptable because it would damage the community and cause local energy prices to rise, area officials and residents said.

New York Regional Interconnect’s latest proposal calls for part of the power line to run underground through key communities such as South Utica and New Hartford.

“It’s still going to come through our community. It’s still going to raise our rates. We can’t afford to raise our rates,” Utica Mayor David Roefaro said. “I’m against the project entirely. I don’t care if they bury them or not.”

The lines also could interfere with efforts to develop a nanotechnology site near SUNYIT in Marcy, said Assemblywoman RoAnn Destito, D-Rome. The lines would not be buried at that site, she said.

Officials said the 2.9 percent increase in local power costs predicted in the filing could drive businesses away from the area and force new businesses to look for cheaper rates elsewhere.

“They said, ‘Well, it’s only going up 2.9 percent,’” Destito said. “We have businesses that are crying out for less today.”

The revised proposal includes several options for the power line’s route including the current Marcy South route.

Marina Latella of Cassville said any alternate routes the company might consider, or has incorporated in the report, are irrelevant because the power line is not needed.

“By the time they are going to put up, it is going to be outdated,” she said.

The supplementary filing contained few changes from the original plan, Mike Steiger of Upstate New York Citizens Alliance said.

Steiger of Cassville said he would reserve comment on NYRI’s claim that energy costs statewide would go down eventually because he has not yet seen a report NYRI commissioned from an outside company.

But economists who work with the alliance — one of the various groups fighting the power line — will calculate the costs and verify those claims, he said.

“What kind of proof are they documenting for costs to go down,” Steiger said. “Anybody can make a statement that prices are going to come down. What data are they using?”

Steiger said the group’s research shows NYRI will not resolve any power crunch in the state. The bigger question is whether NYRI’s proposal does anything for the state, he said.

Billy Howard of Cassville, who works with the Upstate New York Citizens Alliance, said he wants to know what the report says about the economic impact to Upstate New York.

“I think they are saying whatever they think we like to hear,” he said. “We can’t judge them by what they say. What the (Public Service Commission) needs to do is to see if there is a need for NYRI.”

Observer-Dispatch

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